I have been an environmentalist since my undergraduate student days. I studied design and international studies in the 90s, when curriculum was just beginning to include the implications of design in overconsumption and obsolescence. Whilst the curriculum has changed a lot since then, mainstream design remains deeply complicit in environmental destruction; embedding sustainability in how we teach and learn about design has become an ethical imperative.

Sustainability in practice: the Global Studio program

Global Studio is one of the subjects offered in Design Studies where students learn critical thinking about sustainability from Day 1. As an immersive, interdisciplinary and collaborative subject, students explore different ways to transform their thinking into work-integrated learning action.

Whilst we have been running the Global Studio in Indonesia for over a decade, December 2023 was our first studio since 2019 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. With student mobility programs on pause, we took the opportunity to reflect on our achievements and refine our approach to influence, motivate and inspire students to learn.

A shared framework across languages and cultures

In 2023, we enhanced our subject to align with the UTS Sustainability Strategy. We refined the Subject Learning Outcomes and added the UTS Canvas Commons Sustainability module to our Canvas site, adapting it to the design disciplines of Product Design, Fashion and Textiles and Visual Communication. Students work through this sustainability module independently before departing on the Global Studio.

We also redesigned Assessment 1 to focus on sustainable design and amplified student learning through the Atlas of Sustainable Design, a collaborative output to share the results with our industry and community partners. In groups, students choose an SDG in collaboration with their design industry partner and explore the ways this SDG is translated in their local context.

On a practical level, the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) offer a shared framework when students engage with people from different languages and cultures in Indonesia. It’s a starting point for what can seem like an impossible task.

Place-based collaboration with industry, NGOs and government

The subject aligns with the UTS commitment to the New Colombo Plan (NCP). This is a signature initiative of the Australian Government that aims to lift knowledge of the Indo-Pacific in Australia by supporting Australian undergraduates to undertake study, language training and internships in the region.

The studios are co-designed with various industry partners, from global NGOs to local and provincial government departments. By working with an industry partner, we can focus the learning experience on planning and implementing place-based design interventions and ensure our work has a lasting social impact.

The program aims to provide practical, cultural, and educational outcomes and opportunities for the participants and encourage them to build a personal connection with Indonesia and Southeast Asia in preparation for long careers in creative industries across Asia.

This approach helps the program to continue to have an impact on how students think about design. UTS alumni Georgia Doust points to the program as a “turning point” in this enlightening discussion of her design career journey.

In Indonesia, the 2023 Global Studio was also widely promoted on social media, TV interviews, newspapers, and government and local channels, showcasing community activities from tree planting to waste management. You can see some of our students in action in the clip below!

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